Volume CXXXIII, Number 15 February 8, 2002 f

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
CONOR WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, featuring founder and director Mark Harvey on trumpet. (americamusicworks.com)

One of Boston's most accomplished and permanent jazz groups, the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, will be visiting Bowdoin's Pickard Theatre this coming Saturday, February 9th. Founded twenty-nine years ago, the group has played numerous hot jazz spots in Boston and around the globe, with an upcoming gig scheduled in one of Boston's premier joints, the Regatta Bar. It includes eighteen members, consisting of brass, percussion, basses, and occasional piano and guitar.

"When you hear a concert of ours, you're liable to hear almost anything," said Mark Harvey, the group's musical director, in an interview on February 4. "One of our trademarks is that we try to be eclectic. Like the New England weather, if you don't like one piece, you'll like the next."

He cited late American jazz legend Duke Ellington as Aardvark's main influence, but included both classical and jazz composers such as Americans Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Dizzy Gillespie, as well as Sergei Prokofieff and Stravinsky, not to mention "experimental classical stuff" as well. The result, however, is most certainly a blend, a style unique to the group.

Clearly, however, Ellington is a primary force behind Harvey's work with the group. The group plans to play several of his classics, including "Caravan" and "Such Sweet Thunder." Ellington is a fixture in American jazz, often cited as one of the first "crossover" jazz artists, to incorporate themes and elements from other musical styles in his work, especially classical.

The group includes both young stars of the eastern jazz scene as well as long-popular fixtures, such as former Bowdoin faculty member, jazz guitarist Richard Nelson. Nelson will premier an orchestral version of his trio piece, "Dark Side" this Saturday.

"For me…they're just totally integrated…so I don't really think about [the variance in influence]," explained Harvey.

Despite the mixed background, all are primarily twentieth century composers and musicians. Aardvark is an unmistakably modern group that runs the gamut of a straight jazz performance. From "straight blues" to a "more classical sound," to "straight funk," they play it all.

"I also try to include other elements as well," said Harvey, "World music and pop, some rock…jazz has come so far this century, I see no reason to limit it."